Spirit of the Lab
by FaithinBones
Summary: The Medico-Legal Lab. This is a place of science, steel, plastics and glass. No one believes in the spirit world here.


(After Season 12)

A/N: rynogeny thought this might be an interesting story idea.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

"Hello."

He turned from the railing to see who was in the breakroom with him and smiled when he recognized her. "Ms. Harmonia . . . what are you doing up here? Does Dr. Saroyan know you're here?"

Avalon stepped closer to the guard and smiled. "No . . . I'm here to see Angela, but she's at her OBGYN right now. I'm just waiting up here for her to come back."

"I see." Micah turned his attention back down towards the platform where his favorite anthropologist was hard at work. "I believe the coffee is fresh if you're interested."

"It's interesting that you know who I am." Avalon walked over to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee. Luckily she also found a covered tray of cookies and took one of those too. "Well, I know who you are too."

Not really surprised, Micah turned, crossed his arms against his chest and leaned against the rail "Is that right?"

Amused, the psychic walked over to the couch and sat down. "Oh sure. I've seen you around the few times I've been here. Of course I will admit that I didn't really catch on the first time, but I did the second time . . . I've always wanted to talk to you, but this is the first time I've actually had the chance."

"Just out of curiosity, who do you think I am?" Micah stared at Avalon as she nibbled the edge of her cookie.

"I love chocolate chip cookies, but they really don't like me." Avalon placed the barely eaten cookie down on the coffee table, took a sip of her coffee and placed the mug down on the table as well. "You are a Genius loci . . . do you deny it?"

"Genius loci . . . interesting." Micah wondered how he should respond. He didn't think denying it would mean anything to the psychic. "Spirit of Place . . . kind of an odd thing to call someone . . . . Aren't they supposed to be elves or fairies or something like that. I don't think I'm a fairy."

"Or ghosts." Avalon wasn't going to allow Micah to divert her attention. "Either way, I'm right."

Amused, Micah knew that Avalon was bursting with questions. His problem was whether or not to answer them. "This is a place of science . . . steel, plastics, glass . . . men and women dedicated in their fields of science, most of them at the top of their field or at least trying to be . . . no one believes in the spirit world here . . . well, Ms. Montenegro does, but she's an artist not just a computer genius. She sees the world in a more spiritual manner than the rest of them."

"She does." Avalon sipped more of her coffee as she thought about how to proceed. "She's willing to see the truth behind the obvious and to accept it."

A noise below caused Micah to look down towards the platform. One of the new interns had dropped a bone on the floor and Dr. Brennan was lecturing him on the proper respect required to handle the bones of the dead and about possible cross contamination from mishandling said bones. The intern looked like he was going to throw up, but at least he was listening. Turning back to the psychic, Micah shook his head. "Some of the interns make it and some don't. Dr. Brennan is a hard task master, but when her interns graduate they can get a job almost anywhere in the world."

"You admire her." Avalon was intrigued with Micah. She had never really met a Genius loci before and she found the whole thing fascinating.

"I do." Micah loved Dr. Brennan. "She epitomizes what this place is all about. They bring her the bones of dead people and she leads her team in identifying those bones. She helps bring closure to families and if it's required, she gets justice for those who are victims of crime or war. Dr. Brennan works hard and long hours even though she has a family. Her husband is a fine agent and he makes a great partner for Dr. Brennan. She's really done well for herself."

Avalon stood up and walked over to the railing. Looking down, she saw the now chastised intern handing the previously dropped bone to Dr. Brennan who placed it on a separate tray. She set that tray aside and leaned back over the skeleton laid out before her on the steel table as the intern moved closer to the table and leaned forward to watch. "She didn't have any advantages when she was growing up. Abandoned as a child, mistreated in foster homes . . . but she used her brains to get somewhere. She didn't let anyone tell her no, that she couldn't do something . . . I wish all foster children could do that, but she did it."

"Yes." Micah glanced at Avalon. "She's grown a lot since I first met her . . . she used to be so closed up, she had no friends and she didn't seem to understand why. I liked her immediately when I met her. She's blunt, but honest. She's curious and willing to learn new things. A polymath . . . I love to learn new things too. That's why I love this place. When I can, I talk to her about the lectures I've seen and she listens, she really listens to me . . . I've tried to talk to others here, but few see me let alone want to talk to me . . . after all I'm just a lowly security guard . . . Ms. Montenegro talks to me, so does Dr. Hodgins and Dr. Edison . . . very fine people. I've had a few conversations with Dr. Saroyan, but I try not to bother her. She's so busy trying to run this place."

"Have you talked to Agent Booth?" Avalon was curious about that. She considered Booth to be a very spiritual man, but he did hate the Lab. Everyone knew that.

A slight smile on his face, Micah nodded his head. "Yes, I have once or twice. He doesn't care for the Lab which is a little off putting . . . He's an interesting fellow. He's a man of feelings and doesn't really care for the hard sciences that much, but he loves Dr. Brennan who is a woman of science and not one to share her feelings . . . At first I wasn't sure what to make of them together, but over the years I could see that they actually complete each other. Alone, they struggle because they have a tendency to see only one side of certain things, but together the picture becomes clear to both of them . . . one helps the other to see the pieces that they're missing."

"Have you always been here?" Avalon wasn't sure how much time she had to talk to Micah and she had so many questions.

"Not at the beginning." He thought her questions were harmless so far. "They built the institute and I heard about it from others . . . I came and checked it out and I stayed. There was so much to see and to learn and I loved it . . . Then the Lab was built and Dr. Brennan came and I wanted to be here to help when it was time for the 'lost ones' to move on. Some of them have waited for so long for someone to help them and most of them are so grateful when they are finally identified and they can leave. Some need just as much closure as their loved ones do."

She had picked up in the word, most. "Aren't they all grateful?"

Micah chuckled. "No, of course not. Some of them are bitter that their lives were stolen from them. Their families have moved on without them, they didn't get to complete their allotted time on this plane . . . Some are curious and don't want to move on yet, so they stay here or they travel around a bit until they realize that there is nothing for them here and then they move on . . . For those that want my help, I show them how to move to the next plane when they're ready, but I don't force any one . . . I couldn't if I wanted to."

"Does every place have a Genius loci?" Avalon had only seen a few in her life, but Micah was the only one who had ever talked to her.

He didn't know everything, but he did know the answer to that one. "No, of course not . . . some places are just what they seem . . . it's the special places that have a spirit . . . an old house that has seen many generations, buildings like the White House over on Pennsylvania Avenue. It's been around so long and many people have lived and worked there, some have died there . . . places that are sacred to people . . . it has to have a history, I suppose. Or it has to be interesting like this place was after it was built. They've accumulated so many pieces of history here. Places like this are a small piece of heaven to someone like me."

"I see." Avalon wasn't sure what to ask next. Before she could, a shout down below drew both of their attention.

"Hey Bones, we're going to be late to Christine's school play. Chop chop, let's go."

They saw Brennan toss her gloves in the biohazard bin and begin to instruct the intern and Dr. Hodgins about what she expected them to do before she came back the next day. Once that was done, she hurried down the steps, kissed Booth who was impatiently looking at his watch and strode over to her office to prepare to leave. Her husband complaining about the time followed closely behind her.

Angela chose that moment to enter the Lab, noticed Avalon leaning over the rail and called out to her. "I'm sorry I'm late. Can you come down here? My feet don't like a lot of stairs right now."

Avalon turned to Micah and smiled. "Thank you for talking to me."

"You're welcome." Micah waved at Angela and turned to walk over to the catwalk that circled the Lab below. "I have to go. The spirit of the bones on the table is angry with the Mr. Kramer and is threatening him. He didn't like it when his ulna was dropped."

Avalon had noticed the fist shaking being done by the spirit, but hadn't been concerned. It wasn't like the ghost could harm the intern, but she did know the young man was probably feeling the hairs on his arms moving. She knew that could be uncomfortable. "He does look mad." She moved over to the stairs and walked down to meet her friend. "Angela, you look so beautiful."

"Sure I do." Angela pecked a kiss on her friend's cheek. "But thank you. The baby is fine and so am I."

"I'm so glad." After she hooked her arm around Angela's arm, Avalon walked over to the artist's office with her. "Let's look at the cards and see what we can see. I think we might find them very interesting today."

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I hope you were amused. Let me know what you think. Thank you.


End file.
